ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Cassini finds hints of activity at Saturn moon Dione
• NASA's WISE mission finds 'lost' asteroid family members
• Apes get emotional over games of chance
• Artificial sweeteners may do more than sweeten: It can affect how the body reacts to glucose
• Early brain responses to words predict developmental outcomes in children with autism
• Organic polymers show sunny potential: Groundwork laid for block copolymer solar cells
• High-efficiency zinc-air battery developed
• Adult stem cells could hold key to cure type 1 diabetes
• Gene that helps honey bees find flowers (and get back home) discovered
• Gene therapy gives mice broad protection to pandemic flu strains, including 1918 flu
• Arctic current flowed under deep freeze of last ice age, study says
• Wit, grit and a supercomputer yield chemical structure of HIV capsid
• 'Low sodium diet' key to old age for stars: New observations challenge current stellar theories
• Genetic engineering alters mosquitoes' sense of smell
• Cosmic glitch: Astronomers discover new phenomenon in neutron star
• Pigeons peck for computerized treat
• 3-D microelectrodes? Charred micro-bunny sculpture shows promise of new material for 3-D shaping
• Re-creating the original colors of treasured ivory carvings from the ancient past
• Subfossil forest discovered at building site in Zurich

Cassini finds hints of activity at Saturn moon Dione Posted: 29 May 2013 06:51 PM PDT From a distance, most of the Saturnian moon Dione resembles a bland cueball. Thanks to close-up images of a 500-mile-long (800-kilometer-long) mountain on the moon from NASA's Cassini spacecraft, scientists have found more evidence for the idea that Dione was likely active in the past. It could still be active now.

NASA's WISE mission finds 'lost' asteroid family members Posted: 29 May 2013 06:49 PM PDT Data from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) have led to a new and improved family tree for asteroids in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter. Astronomers used millions of infrared snapshots from the asteroid-hunting portion of the WISE all-sky survey, called NEOWISE, to identify 28 new asteroid families. The snapshots also helped place thousands of previously hidden and uncategorized asteroids into families for the first time. The findings are a critical step in understanding the origins of asteroid families, and the collisions thought to have created these rocky clans.

Apes get emotional over games of chance Posted: 29 May 2013 04:09 PM PDT Like some humans, chimpanzees and bonobos exhibit emotional responses to outcomes of their decisions by pouting or throwing angry tantrums when a risk-taking strategy fails to pay off, according to new research.

Artificial sweeteners may do more than sweeten: It can affect how the body reacts to glucose Posted: 29 May 2013 04:07 PM PDT Researchers have found that a popular artificial sweetener can modify how the body handles sugar. They analyzed the sweetener sucralose in 17 severely obese people and found it can influence how the body reacts to glucose.

Early brain responses to words predict developmental outcomes in children with autism Posted: 29 May 2013 04:07 PM PDT The pattern of brain responses to words in 2-year-old children with autism spectrum disorder predicted the youngsters' linguistic, cognitive and adaptive skills at ages 4 and 6, according to a new study. The findings are among the first to demonstrate that a brain marker can predict future abilities in children with autism.

Organic polymers show sunny potential: Groundwork laid for block copolymer solar cells Posted: 29 May 2013 12:46 PM PDT A new version of solar cells could open the door to research on a new class of solar energy devices. The photovoltaic devices are based on block copolymers, self-assembling organic materials that arrange themselves into distinct layers. They easily outperform other cells with polymer compounds as active elements.

High-efficiency zinc-air battery developed Posted: 29 May 2013 12:46 PM PDT Scientists have developed an advanced zinc-air battery with higher catalytic activity and durability than similar batteries made with costly platinum and iridium catalysts. The results could lead to the development of a low-cost alternative to conventional lithium-ion batteries widely used today, according to the researchers.

Adult stem cells could hold key to cure type 1 diabetes Posted: 29 May 2013 12:44 PM PDT Scientists have discovered that by combining cells from bone marrow with a new drug may help cure type 1 diabetes.

Gene that helps honey bees find flowers (and get back home) discovered Posted: 29 May 2013 11:43 AM PDT Honey bees don't start out knowing how to find flowers or even how to get around outside the hive. Before they can forage, they must learn to navigate a changing landscape and orient themselves to the sun. In a new study, researchers report that a regulatory gene known to be involved in the detection of novelty in vertebrates also kicks into high gear in the brains of honey bees when they are learning how to find food and bring it home.

Gene therapy gives mice broad protection to pandemic flu strains, including 1918 flu Posted: 29 May 2013 11:42 AM PDT Researchers have developed a new gene therapy to thwart a potential influenza pandemic. They demonstrated that a single dose of an adeno-associated virus expressing a broadly neutralizing flu antibody into the noses of animal models gives them complete protection and substantial reductions in flu replication when exposed to lethal strains of H5N1 and H1N1 flu virus. These were isolated from samples associated from historic human pandemics – the infamous 1918 flu pandemic and another from 2009.

Arctic current flowed under deep freeze of last ice age, study says Posted: 29 May 2013 10:34 AM PDT During the last ice age, when thick ice covered the Arctic, many scientists assumed that the deep currents below that feed the North Atlantic Ocean and help drive global ocean currents slowed or even stopped. But in a researchers have now shown that the deep Arctic Ocean has been churning briskly for the last 35,000 years, through the chill of the last ice age and warmth of modern times.

Wit, grit and a supercomputer yield chemical structure of HIV capsid Posted: 29 May 2013 10:34 AM PDT Researchers report that they have determined the precise chemical structure of the HIV capsid, a protein shell that protects the virus's genetic material and is a key to its virulence. The capsid has become an attractive target for the development of new antiretroviral drugs.

'Low sodium diet' key to old age for stars: New observations challenge current stellar theories Posted: 29 May 2013 10:32 AM PDT Astronomers expect that stars like the Sun will blow off much of their atmospheres into space near the ends of their lives. But new observations of a huge star cluster made using ESO's Very Large Telescope have shown -- against all expectations -- that a majority of the stars studied simply did not get to this stage in their lives at all. The international team found that the amount of sodium in the stars was a very strong predictor of how they ended their lives.

Genetic engineering alters mosquitoes' sense of smell Posted: 29 May 2013 10:31 AM PDT In one of the first successful attempts at genetically engineering mosquitoes, researchers have altered the way the insects respond to odors, including the smell of humans and the insect repellant DEET. The research not only demonstrates that mosquitoes can be genetically altered using the latest research techniques, but paves the way to understanding why the insect is so attracted to humans, and how to block that attraction.

Cosmic glitch: Astronomers discover new phenomenon in neutron star Posted: 29 May 2013 10:05 AM PDT The physics behind some of the most extraordinary stellar objects in the universe just became even more puzzling. A group of astronomers has discovered a new kind of glitch in the cosmos, specifically in the rotation of a neutron star.

Pigeons peck for computerized treat Posted: 29 May 2013 09:11 AM PDT New research show pigeons can make informed choices, and use a computerized touch-screen as well.

3-D microelectrodes? Charred micro-bunny sculpture shows promise of new material for 3-D shaping Posted: 29 May 2013 08:13 AM PDT Researchers have used state-of-the-art micro-sculpting techniques on a new type of resin that can be molded into complex, highly conductive 3-D structures (in this case the famous "Stanford bunny") with features just a few micrometers across. The team says one of the most promising applications is 3-D microelectrodes that could interface with the brain.

Re-creating the original colors of treasured ivory carvings from the ancient past Posted: 29 May 2013 08:13 AM PDT The fabled ivory carvings from the ancient Phoenician city of Arslan Tash -- literally meaning "Stone Lion" -- may appear a dull monochrome in museums today, but they glittered with brilliant blue, red, gold and other colors 2,800 years ago, a new study has confirmed after decades of speculation.

Subfossil forest discovered at building site in Zurich Posted: 29 May 2013 06:27 AM PDT The fact that many finds have happened by chance was demonstrated again recently in Zurich. A dendrochronologist was just having a look at a building site when he noticed a few tree stumps on the edge of the loamy building pit that had been discarded by the construction workers as waste timber. Analysis showed the timber he discovered was dated between 12,846 BP** and 13,782 BP. With the support of the building-site management researchers have managed to salvage some 200 ancient pine-tree stumps.

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